I'm from the western United States, so Yank has never been an issue, it always makes me think of the old WWII movies

USian...just no. I've thought about it since reading it in the other thread and do not feel any kinship toward that term, it simply is not anything I would use to identify myself. It looks like a poorly capitalized and misspelled word that could not be pronounced in any reasonable fashion.

So, I'm opting out of USian and staying with American, and I invite anyone from other countries in the Americas to do the same if they wish to do so; however, as Hmmmm says above, most people from other Western Hemisphere countries tend to prefer the more specific designation of their country's name.

RE: USian,But people from Holland are not Hollandians - they are Dutch. People from the USSR (back when there was a USSR) were not USSRians. People from the United Arab Emirates are not called United Arabs, or UAians. And folks from the UK may be called Brits (even if they are Scots or Welsh), but they are not UKers.

There is a point at which trying to be sensitive to people's feelings - or how you imagine people might feel, whether or not anyone actually feels that way - can really lead to a departure from common sense.

Like some others I have thought about this since reading it on the site yesterday. I don't like the term USian. It does not describe who I am. I am an American. I am from the United States of America. If someone from North or South of the USA wants to be called an American I'm fine with that. Although I really think they would be as insulted being called an American as I am a USian. Some said they have seen it online before. I have been online since 1991 and I have never seen that term before. I have been on many forums and many sites with many nationalities.

I just have a question for people who say I am an American, not a USian. Will youi at least recognize the fact that a person from Guatemala is just as much an American as you are? Because that erson is, and that is the problem with the word American for a person from the USA, there is no word left to indicate a person from America in general, that does not confuse.

I just have a question for people who say I am an American, not a USian. Will youi at least recognize the fact that a person from Guatemala is just as much an American as you are? Because that erson is, and that is the problem with the word American for a person from the USA, there is no word left to indicate a person from America in general, that does not confuse.

no, I won't.

They are a Central American or a Guatemalan.

Honestly I am very sure they don't see themselves as an American either and I think they would be upset that someone would call them one.

There's some point where you can't control what other people call you (we call Americans a version of USian, though yhdysvaltalainen is far from shorthand and the translation of American, amerikkalainen is probably more common), many countries don't get called by others what they call themselves (we don't and I guess that we could get annoyed because Finland is the name used by our former colonizers). I wonder if people use USian because they feel that the whole name USA is bad, as it seems to lay claim to the whole continent, sort of like if Germany decided to call itself United States of Europe even though most of the continent isn't part of it. Obviously the name is old and unlikely to change.

The Finnish version of Yankee/Yank is jenkki and it can be used for everything that seems American from people to chewing gum to beds and cars. It has also lead to a nick name for the whole country, Jenkkilä, sort of like Yankville.

I think there are some nuances in thought as well here. I don't identify myself as a 'brit' - and I don't know of any British/Scottish/English/Welsh person who would. I personally don't like the term at all, but I understand that some people (primarily from the US) choose to describe us as such. I'm actually half English, half Welsh, so I would say I'm from the UK/British/a Briton.

There are some sets of countries that people (for whatever reason - primarily similarity of language & accent), mentally group together, i.e. USA & Canada and New Zealand and Australia. This means that someone outside those countries/continent may describe something as American, when they actually mean Canadian, or Australian, when they actually mean New Zealand. To someone inside those countries that might seem bizarre or offensive, but to an outsider, it's easily done, although no offence is intended. By using the term USian, it removes the mental ambiguity from American, which could mean Canadian or American (USA).

I think there was recently on another thread a quibble over someone saying something was 'typically European', when they actually mean German, Italian (or whatever, I couldn't work out what country they were talking about but it definitely wasn't the UK). As someone from the UK, that makes absolutely no sense at all - we don't identify as 'European', and our cultures and histories are so vastly different that it seems a bizarre statement. But from an outsider's perspective, we're lumped together geographically and (for the most part) economically, so what's the difference?

All in all, I think we should recognise that people outside our geographical area may not appreciate our own feelings about our identity, but as long as they're not disrespectful, we should try to take it in a positive light, and not see offence where none was intended.

RE: USian,But people from Holland are not Hollandians - they are Dutch. People from the USSR (back when there was a USSR) were not USSRians. People from the United Arab Emirates are not called United Arabs, or UAians. And folks from the UK may be called Brits (even if they are Scots or Welsh), but they are not UKers.

There is a point at which trying to be sensitive to people's feelings - or how you imagine people might feel, whether or not anyone actually feels that way - can really lead to a departure from common sense.

My mother is from South Holland (a province of the Netherlands) and hence is a Hollander (Not a Hollandian but close). She is also a Nederlander (or dutch if you wish to use the English word), someone who is from the Netherlands. The country is not Holland. Holland is a part of the Netherlands. It's like calling all denizens of the US, Texans. She will also call herself a European but that is not her country designation but her Continental Designation.

No other country, other than Australia, uses the name of the whole continent as the name for it's denizens so it is understandable that this may be controversial and create some discussion. There is no other precedent for it, so I don't see any way to compare it to other country's national designations as you have tried to do above.

The closest may be the Brits as they come from the British Isles (made up of multiple countries) but it applies to all those Countries including Scots and the Welsh except Ireland, and I'm pretty sure if someone from Ireland wanted to call themselves a Brit, no-one but themselves would have an issue.

I am Australian. This is both the designation for my country and continent of origin as there is only one country in the continent.

There is more than one country in the Americas and some people from countries other than the US are offended that the US has coopted the "American" designation when they are not the only country in the continental landmasses. I have heard this both from people living in South American Countries (Brazil and Argentina) and from Canadians, so it is a real issue for them.

BTW, I'm not saying it is wrong for people from the US to call themselves "Americans" but there is the other point of view which should be considered and hopefully respected.

And now that I've seen Jammytoast's post, I'd just like to agree with it

ETA: Just noticed Autocorrect changed Ireland to Island and I wish to apologise to the Irish for not noticing it sooner.

I think there was recently on another thread a quibble over someone saying something was 'typically European', when they actually mean German, Italian (or whatever, I couldn't work out what country they were talking about but it definitely wasn't the UK). As someone from the UK, that makes absolutely no sense at all - we don't identify as 'European', and our cultures and histories are so vastly different that it seems a bizarre statement. But from an outsider's perspective, we're lumped together geographically and (for the most part) economically, so what's the difference?

All in all, I think we should recognise that people outside our geographical area may not appreciate our own feelings about our identity, but as long as they're not disrespectful, we should try to take it in a positive light, and not see offence where none was intended.

True. I'm from the UK and I despise being described as 'European'. Island mentality perhaps, but many people in the UK do not identify as European. The culture between say, England and Italy, is so vastly different that to lump them together makes absolutely no sense.

RE: USian,But people from Holland are not Hollandians - they are Dutch.

Thanks for making my point that there is nothing wrong with calling people something completely different from what they call themselves. (The country is Nederland, The Netherlands in English. The people are Nederlanders.) As star faerie said, a person from Holland is called a Hollander. Hollandians merely doesn't make sense because -ian is English, not Dutch.

I've seen USians innumerable times online since I first entered the web in 1994 - mostly used by people from the US to describe themselves.

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There is more than one country in the Americas and some people from countries other than the US are offended that the US has coopted the "American" designation when they are not the only country in the continental landmasses. I have heard this both from people living in South American Countries (Brazil and Argentina) and from Canadians, so it is a real issue for them.